British Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has been pulled over by police and had his car impounded for doing a burnout just hours after setting the fastest qualifying time for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Police say the McLaren star was turning into Fitzroy Street at around 9:15pm (AEDT) when he "deliberately lost traction of his wheels".

"This evening, I was driving in an over-exuberant manner and, as a result, was stopped by the police," the 25-year-old Briton said in a McLaren statement.

"What I did was silly, and I want to apologise for it."

Senior police constable Scott Woodford said the 25-year-old's car had "accelerated heavily and lost traction to the rear wheels" in making a turn, had been impounded and was due to be released on Monday.

"He's expected to be charged on summons with the offence of improper use of a motor vehicle," said Woodford, who added that Hamilton had a male passenger in the car with him at the time.

"It's fair to say that he was disappointed with the whole incident but I must say he was extremely cooperative throughout."

While one of the fastest and most thrilling of racers on the track, Hamilton has a far quieter life away from the paddock with a home in Switzerland when he is not visiting his popstar girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger in Los Angeles.

However this season he has broken out on his own, with his father Anthony no longer his manager or accompanying him to every race.

Both father and son have been in the headlines before for escapades in road cars, with Hamilton senior crashing a borrowed Porsche Carrera GT through a hedge near his home in 2008.

Hamilton had his regular licence suspended for a month after being stopped by police in France for speeding on the motorway in 2007.

In that incident, the Briton was at the wheel of a Mercedes when he was clocked at 196 kilometres per hour near the northern town of Laon.